After The Smoke Of Battle Cleared

"Jan, there's a message come in from Fil. I thought you'd want it straight
away."

"Thanks, Mac, I like to keep up to date with events on Gauda Prime. What is
it this time? More Federation inspections?"

"No, they seem to have stopped. Sounds like some bounty hunter is going to
make enough to retire. Seems an old Wanderer class planet hopper fell foul
of the patrols and was shot down. Must have had a good pilot though. Word
is, the crew survived the crash and were picked up by you-know-who."

"He won't make much on the crew of a planet hopper."

"If Fil is right, he will on this crew. Fil says he's heard it's Kerr Avon
and his team. Apparently there was some kind of shoot out-Blake's people,
Avon's crew and some others in Federation uniform. Blake was injured but
came out on top; that's why he hasn't claimed the bounty yet. He's got them
under lock and key but wants time to recover. Avon alone is worth a million,
isn't he?"

"Change course. I want landing clearance for *The Honest Trade*r for Gauda
Prime Central. And I want us there as soon as possible. There are times
when a man needs saving from himself."

---------------------------------------------

Fortunately *The Honest Trader* was carrying a cargo acceptable on Gauda
Prime and so was permitted through the blockade to land and unload. Leaving
their business agent Fil to supervise transfer of the cargo to the warehouse
and arrange payments, Jan and Mac hired a flyer and went out into the forest.
Jan knew exactly where she was going and took them to a small clearing. Mac
was to wait there, guard the flyer and be ready for a quick getaway. He had
the boring part; Jan had a couple of miles to walk through the trees, trying
not to be noticed. She had dressed not to be detected. Instead of her usual
elegant attire she wore dark grey overalls and soft boots, her hair was
tucked inside the hood, and a thin veil covered her face. The fabric was
woven to absorb radiation to prevent scanners detecting her or her own heat
showing through to cameras, and the veil prevented recognition while not
affecting her own vision.

It took her an hour to reach the base. She had been checking her route ready
for the return; she didn't want mistakes if they had wounded to carry. If
things hadn't been changed since she left, then she knew where the prisoners
would be-an old storeroom with a heavy door, barred not locked. And her
timing should be right to avoid the guards.

--------------------------------------------------

They had assessed their situation after waking in the cell. Their captors
had removed their jackets and boots, and emptied their pockets, so they had
no tools or concealed weapons to help them escape. Though as Vila pointed
out, the cell had once been a storeroom and the door didn't have a lock to be
picked. It was barred on the outside and could only be opened from within by
brute force. And their brute was too injured from the crash and the fight to
be any use. All they could do was wait for the guards who delivered food and
water to become careless enough to be jumped. Once that happened they had
their plan. Avon had pulled himself together now that he realised that as
the one who got them into this it was his place to get them out, so he and
Soolin would go in front to clear a route forward. Vila was to make sure
that Tarrant kept with the others even if it meant carrying him, and Dayna
was rearguard. Optimistically they assumed they could acquire weapons en
route.

They were alerted by the sound of bolts being withdrawn, but stealthily as if
the guard didn't want to attract attention, not the usual swift action to get
them covered before they could attack. Hoping that this was their chance,
they moved to be ready when the door opened.

"Avon, don't do anything silly."

It was a whisper, but it made Avon and Vila glance at each other to see if
each had the same idea.

"Jenna! But he said you were dead!" Vila's bewilderment was obvious in his
voice.

She slipped into the room. "It's a long story. I'll explain if we make it
to the ship."

Avon was suspicious. "Whose side are you on?"

"My own, but I hope yours is the same. Come on. Is there anyone else we
need to rescue? We can't afford to waste time "

"No, no one else." Soolin's comment was brisk, but Jan looked at Vila for
confirmation. He nodded and said, "We lost Cally."

But this was not the time for details and Jan turned to Avon to ask him, "Is
everybody fit enough to travel?"

Tarrant pulled himself upright and nodded, as Avon said, "Yes, we can move,
but it would be useful if we could collect our things on the way out. Do you
know where they are?"

"With luck, yes. Stay close, we don't want to be spotted."

They crept along the corridor until Jan gestured to a door. "Store room. Try
there."

She was obviously familiar with the base because everything they had arrived
with was there, jackets, boots, tools, guns and Orac's key. It was
surprising how quickly even Tarrant could dress and fill his pockets now they
were escaping.

With Jan to guide them they were out of the base and into the trees without
being noticed. Tarrant found it difficult to keep up with the others as they
trudged through the forest but with Vila's support he wasn't left behind.
Eventually they reached the clearing where the flyer was parked.

"OK, Mac, back to the ship. If we can make it unnoticed, even better. Avon,
I will explain what's going on but I'd prefer to be in orbit first. And will
you put that gun away! It might go off and you never could aim very well.
Remember when you shot the gun out of Travis's hand and said you were aiming
for his head?"

That broke the tension somehow and Avon gave himself a mental shake and
muttered something about some people never had trusted him with a gun. Then
he said, "Divert half a mile east of here. I want to pick Orac up before we
leave."

Mac said, "Is that OK with you, Jan?" and sent the flyer in that direction at
her nod.

Dayna, Soolin and Tarrant, wondering who had rescued them, whispered together
in the back of the flyer. Tarrant said, "Avon and Vila called her Jenna,
but our driver calls her Jan. Blake told me that Jenna Stannis was dead. So
who is she?"

Dayna tried to make him as comfortable as possible in the cramped space. "I
don't know, but Vila has cheered up a bit since seeing her. And Avon seems
willing to trust her for now."

Soolin was more puzzled than the other two. "Who is Jenna Stannis? I've
never heard her mentioned before."

Jan had been half listening to them from the front seat, so she turned round
to tell them, "I was Jenna. I go by the name of Jan Standish now and this is
Mac. He runs my ship and is the only one aboard who knows who I was. I used
to be the pilot of the *Liberator*, before the battle against the
Andromedans. I never made it back, unlike Avon, Vila and Cally. I've gone
back to trading."

With Avon directing Mac, it was left to Vila to introduce the others. "The
lump there is Tarrant, our pilot. He boarded the *Liberator* after his own
ship was destroyed in the battle. Avon decided he was worth keeping, at
least until you got back."

"Love you too, Vila", Tarrant said, too tired to argue properly.

Vila continued, "Dayna came aboard with Avon and Orac. Servalan murdered her
father and she doesn't have anywhere else to go. You have to be careful
around her, she hides bombs in her teeth."

Dayna grimaced and said, "Yes, shame I didn't have time to set one in place
before we were shot down or I could have blown the door out of that cell."

"And Soolin is a gunfighter, bodyguard, assassin. I don't know why she
stayed with us, she could have moved on anytime. It's not as if we could pay
her," Vila said.

"You know, I'm not sure why I stayed either," Soolin said.

Jan nodded in greeting before turning forward to watch as Avon directed Mac
to set down. He was out of the flyer, picked something up from in the
undergrowth and was back in his seat in moments. Jan said, "I see you've
kept Orac, but why leave it out here, Avon?"

"It could have been a trap, Jenna. It was a trap. And I didn't want Orac
falling into the wrong hands. So I left it here and took the key. I hoped
it would stop anyone else using it."

Jan laughed and said to Mac, "He always was a suspicious bastard." She
turned to Avon. "By the way, Avon, what's so special about your jacket-other
than Orac's key in the pocket-that we had to retrieve it?"

"Come on, Jenna, you don't think all these studs are just for decoration, do
you?" Avon turned the front of his jacket back so the others could see.
"Each one has a washer behind it to prevent it pulling through the leather.
A platinum washer, easily converted to hard currency on any industrial planet
in need of catalysts. It never hurts to carry the basis of a little trade
about one's person."

And on that smug note Mac set down the flyer next to *The Honest Trader* so
they could board unnoticed. Mac returned the flyer to the hire company while
Jan completed her business as quickly as she could without arousing suspicion
and then took the ship into orbit.